New Hampton, Ia. – Rick Perry’s stand on U.S. energy policy was challenged a bit during a stop here today after a man corrected him on the definition of renewable energy and later said his idea to eliminate the federal energy department would have disastrous consequences.

“Who is going to oversee regulation of nuclear power plants?” asked Tom Frantzen, a New Hampton farmer who describes earth history as his passion. “Who is going to see to it that as we develop wind resources, how those wind resources use the grid? It’s a very complicated issue.”

Perry has described himself as an “all of the above” candidate on the issue of energy. He wants to tap into North American natural gas and oil reserves as well as push natural resource energy production like wind, nuclear or solar. He also, however, has called for an end of federal energy subsidies .

Frantzen asked Perry what his definition of a natural resource is and what Perry would do to defend the national’s supply of natural resources. He also noted that U.S. exports of petroleum are up, which counters some of the statements Perry made earlier in his talk.

Perry repeated what he has said that he has said previously, that he would eliminate all energy tax credits for every source of energy and “let the market decide who the winners and who the losers would be.”

“Let the American public decide what the best source of energy is in this country,” Perry told the crowd.

Frantzen, noted that Perry never answered the question about what he considers a natural resource, to which Perry named wind, solar and water. Frantzen noted that generally renewable is considered to be a resource that’s brand new in an average human’s lifetime and that groundwater is not considered renewable. (Note: The U.S. Department of Energy does consider water to be a renewable resource.)

Perry asked him if he was satisfied with his answer about ending all tax credits. Frantzen noted that it’s a very complicated issue and that such tactics could result in some countries could be big winners while others could be big losers.

“That could be us,” someone else in the audience said.

“Could easily be,” frantzen said.

Frantzen later said he is a Democrat who once voted for Ronald Reagan and has switched parties at various times. He plans to do so this year to caucus for a Republican but said Perry will not be his candidate.

Perry is the only candidate for the Republican nomination campaigning in Iowa that has not opposed an effort by Texas Congressmen to ban a 15 percent ethanol blended fuel E15, a domestic alternative to foreign oil. Additionally, his plan would leave intact federal law and regulations mandating that over 95 percent of vehicles on the road be filled with a fuel that is a minimum of 85 percent petroleum, according to a review from the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association.

“If Perry were the next president and waved the magic wand and put the Perry plan in place, you would see a severe rollback in ethanol production and it would have a severe impact on farm income and jobs in Iowa,” Monte Shaw, a spokesman for the renewable fuels association and a Republican Party of Iowa Central Committee member, said last month.